Ambassador Gordon Sondland lied, Vice President Mike Pence's office said in a statement released after Wednesday morning's impeachment hearing. Sondland testified that he had discussed the delay in aid to Ukraine with Pence, "that I had concerns that the delay in aid had become tied to the issue of investigations. I recall mentioning that before the Zelensky meeting," in Warsaw on September 1.

Pence's chief of staff was unequivocal. "The Vice President never had a conversation with Gordon Sondland about investigating the Bidens, Burisma, or the conditional release of financial aid to Ukraine based upon potential investigations." And the statement went on at length to say that "Sondland was never alone with Vice President Pence on the September trip. […] The alleged discussion recalled by Ambassador Sondland never happened."

That might have been just a tad bit overstated, now that Pence himself has made time to weigh in. Now it's "I don’t recall any discussions with Ambassador Sondland before my meeting with President Zelensky that had to do with investigations."

"I don't recall" is a pretty far cry from "never happened."

Published with permission from Daily Kos.